Even though he'd shown some encouraging signs of sickness with his inclusion of Sonny Sharrock in his live and studio ensembles, notwithstanding the few exquisite moments of Sharrock's guitar incineration (reference his final assaults on Whisky A Go Go's "Philly Dog" or Memphis Underground's ...), Herbie Mann's albums are ultimately far too liteweight for these ears. Right? Well, not all of 'em. In 1970,
Herbie christened his nascent Embryo label with a completely anachronistic
album called Stone Flute ("Stoned Flute" might've been a better
title.) Here, Mann along with Sharrock, Miroslav Vitous, Roy Ayers, Ron
Carter, and Bruno Carr ride the slow nod and pour out this viscous narcotic
brew that predicts a direction not dissimilar to that taken by Miles Davis
on the latter's tribute to Duke Ellington, "He Loved Him Madly." William
Fischer's string quartet arrangements further thickens the slowboiling
textures. Sticky but unrefined, y'know? And hey, there's even a Beatles
cover, "Flying", which doesn't suck. Yup, this is a perverse exception to
a discography which, like Sergio Mendes'Primal Roots, is fascinating not only in its atypical music but in its complete disregard of market forces. And despite the malignities that Mann received for his post-74 output, he deserves an armful of props for founding the very kozmik Embryo label, an imprint subsidiary to Atlantic.[DW]